The Signing Physician · 2026-W39
Eight states, eight names for the document that binds you
This week's signals bring nothing that moves a ratio cap or a chart-review percentage. So we go back to the paper itself: the written protocol you sign, and the eight different names states give it.
Term of the week: Written Protocol
8 state and clinician pages use a name in the written protocol family. Each state's exact wording is on its page.
California calls it: standardized procedures
The document that defines what your nurse practitioner may do in California carries this name in statute and rule. The duties it fixes on you are set out on the state page.
Florida calls it: written protocol
Florida uses the plainest name in the family for the nurse practitioner document. What the protocol must contain, and what it obliges you to review, is on the state page.
Florida calls it: written protocol for physician assistants too
The same term covers the physician assistant relationship in Florida, on a separate page with its own terms.
Georgia calls it: Nurse Protocol Agreement
Georgia names the instrument itself an agreement, with the protocol inside it. The state page sets out its wording.
Mississippi calls it: Board-approved protocol or standing order
For nurse practitioners, Mississippi puts a board in the loop by name. The state page carries the exact phrasing.
Mississippi calls it: written practice protocol for physician assistants
The same state uses a different name for the physician assistant document. Both pages are kept separately for that reason.
New Jersey calls it: written Joint Protocol
New Jersey's name puts both signatures in the title. The state page gives the wording as it stands.
South Carolina calls it: scope of practice guidelines
South Carolina frames the physician assistant document around scope rather than protocol. The state page carries the term as used.
Every outside claim carries the source it was read from this week. Our own research dates are on each state page. Published 2026-09-21.